Golf has become one of the most popular individual sports engaged in by people of all ages. Given the nature of this outdoor sport, it is common practice for golfers to smoke cigarettes or cigars while playing golf. When a smoking golfer prepares to take a golf swing or stroke, on the tee, in the fairway, in the rough, adjacent to the green, or on the green, the golfer typically lays the lighted cigarette or cigar on the ground.
Typically, the golfer places the cigar on a dry grassy spot in an effort to minimize the exposure of the cigar to the elements. After taking the stroke, the golfer again picks up the lighted cigar and continues to play the game. The practice of laying a lighted cigar on ground is not only unsanitary, but it subjects the golfer to the hazards of contamination from poisons and injurious chemicals used in fertilizers and in weed and fungus killers used to combat the growth of undesirable plants on the golf course. Such impurities can readily be picked up and absorbed by the moistened end of the lighted cigar while laying on the ground. These materials are then transferred to the lips or to the face of the golfer so as to cause infection or other injury.
Hastily laying a cigar or cigarette may also risk exposure of the smoking article to becoming contaminated by water, dirt, or other debris. Thus, in addition to the potential health hazards associated with fertilizers and other chemicals, exposure to water, dirt and debris also cause damage to a golfer's cigars or cigarettes may render them unpalatable.